Emmanuel Acho

Reasonable, interesting and informative. His chapters addressed bluntly a lot of topics needed to address key blind spots many white people have. I appreciated the author provided some "Talk it, Walk it" segments at the end of his chapters. This gave me good ideas for how I could -as a white person- pursue healthy change to recognize my own sometimes unconscious biases, and to actively promote anti-racism, even in small ways. One of his passages at the end of a chapter entitled "The show more Interracial Family" really struck me, an expression by the author that demonstrated his compassion and generosity of spirit:
"My favorite instrument to play is the piano... The beautiful thing about the piano is that you got white keys and you got black keys. And the only way to make the most beautiful, magnificent, and poetic noise is with both sets of keys working in tandem. YOu can't just play all white keys, because you won't maximize what the instrument has to offer. You can't just play all black keys, because you won't maximize what the instrument has to offer. But integrate the white and black keys together, and that is when the piano makes a joyful noise.
That's what this 'we' is all about. If we can truly integrate white people and black people together, working in tandem, that's when our world will make its joyful noise" (155)
This is a no nonsense but approachable book for both older teens and adults - in conjunction with his online video series- could be a great group study. show less

****.5

This book is essentially the sequel to both Acho's "Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man" and Tishby's "Israel: A Simple Guide."

While both authors are clearly more comfortable with social media than writing book-length content, the conversational tone works better in this one, which is formatted as an actual dialogue between the two. And since they don't always agree, it forces them to really focus their arguments more than the peachy soapbox monologuing of their solo works. show more

As to the content, it's fairly basic but also an excellent overview of the current wave of antisemitism, and more generally a basic introduction to Judaism and Zionism. As the authors themselves acknowledge, they're attempting to squeeze 10 multi-hundred page books into a single thin volume, so it's necessarily an abbreviated high-level view, but enough to cover the fundamentals and prepare the reader for further reading and study.

Although a lot of the content was previously covered in Tishby's previous book, the context of October 7 makes it all feel more real and less abstract this time around. It's one thing to learn about the Holocaust in a history book, and quite another to see it being livestreamed. I do wish that she spent at least a couple of pages covering the context of the attack, although it was definitely a surprise it also didn't happen out of nowhere. Her answer to the question of why Palestinians would support such violence was perhaps the weakest part of the book. And completely ignoring the Israeli response is a missed opportunity to discuss what is and what isn't legitimate when it comes to self-defense and fighting for rights. Especially in conversation with Acho, who is quite familiar with the similar debate regarding violent resistance and protest movements, from MLK/Malcom X to BLM/Jan 6. show less

Published description: "Emmanuel Acho grew up in Dallas with his three siblings, the son of Nigerian immigrant parents. In 2012 he was drafted into the NFL by the Cleveland Browns, and later played with the Philadelphia Eagles, while earning a master’s degree in sports psychology at the University of Texas in the off-seasons. In 2016 he left the NFL for ESPN, where he served as the youngest national football analyst, and was named a 2018 Forbes Under 30 Selection. He is now a Fox Sports show more analyst and the creator of the ongoing online video series 'Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.'

"(Emmanuel) Acho connects his own experience with race and racism--including his majority-white prep school education juxtaposed with his time in majority black NFL locker rooms--with the lessons of history, culture, and the wisdom of other black voices. The result is an essential guide to the conversations we should all be having to increase our understanding and join the anti-racist fight."

This is written in an engaging, thought provoking way. It’s done without anger, but will challenge your beliefs on these subjects so vital to understanding the viewpoint of black Americans today.

It’s a time when racism is once more rearing its ugly head and being a racist can seem to be a legitimate support of patriotic American values.

It’s not.

It never can be.

The read is quick, but not surface. I’ll challenge everyone I know to give this a read or to listen to the ongoing podcast of the same name. In addition, I’ll be looking forward to reading his newest book Uncomfortable Conversations With a Jew.

The Table of Contents: The Name Game – Black or African American; Implicit Bias; White Privilege, Cultural Appropriation; Angry Black Men’ The N Word; Systemic Racism; Reverse Racism; Who’s Governing the Government?; Thug Life; Black Family Struggle; The Interracial Family; Fighting for Change; How to be an Ally; Ending racism show less

Emmanuel Acho, a former NFL player, takes questions such as:
Should I say Black of African American
What about reverse racism?
How can you say I have white privilege?

And answers them clearly and intelligently. He cites other works for further reading and references statements from similar popular books.

I always enjoy viewing these explanations from a different viewpoint and picking up something new each time. His explanation of white privilege is like looking at a piece of art from a show more different angle, and I have already stuck is explanation in my back pocket, ready to pull out and use, hopefully as gracefully as Acho.

I am not going to check out his video series. show less